Firing gun system pics

Here are some pics of the 16 firing gun system being built for the Paratroopers Surprise. System nearly complete - waiting only for the servo and gears for the rotary switch mechanism.
Guns and 4 gun cables are above deck, plug into deckplate, and all other components are below deck.
Hope the servo comes soon.

New video camera mount

I have mounted a pan/tilt camera mount on the quarter deck of Surprise. It will be radio controlled for both panning 180 degrees and tilting 90 degrees.

It will give me capabilities of taking some video while underway that will give the feel of someone on deck. The ship is large enough to handle the 2 extra pounds the whole set up weighs.

I had to cut a hole in the quarter deck to set the servo down but since the quarter deck on this ship is not the water tight deck it does not mean I will end up sinking the ship. The hole is below the stair grating ahead of the mizzen mast and aft of the capstan. This should work fine.

Since the pan servo only traverses 180 degrees, I have rigged it so it can be turned aft for a few videos facing the stern. I hope to get some action shots of a broadside once the guns are mounted on the port side. This should make for some interesting video, at least I hope so.

I did not have enough channels left on the Spectum DX7 so I have rigged this temporary installation with a second transmitter and receiver. The battery pack and receiver will be on the gun deck under the edge of the quarter deck because I want it all to be removable.

When the camera mount is removed, I just replace the grating to cover the hole.

Shell Jig for Carronades

My shells are designed after those invented by Dan L. I found several interesting variables as my design evolved.

Since I will have 16 each .375 inch operating carronades on the port side of Surprise, I made my loading jig to quickly load 3 broadsides or 48 shells.

The jig is made from two pieces of 3/4-inch oak that I picked up at Lowe's. Oak is a tougher wood than pine and it drills much smoother. I marked the holes at 1-inch on center in both directions to allow clearance for some 70 year old fingers, 6 in one direction and 8 in the other. Once the holes were drilled I glued a second piece on the bottom to make a jig with all holes the same depth plus a flat bottom on each hole to support my shell casings.

The shell casings are made from 5/16 inch brass tube 2-1/4 inches long. After cutting them to the correct length, I chucked them into the drill press and turned it on. I then forced the chuck down over a pair of needle nose pliers covered in cutting oil. The pliers will get warm (read hot!) so work slowly if you choose to make yours the same way.

After forming the bell on one end I cleaned up the casing with a file. Once they were all cleaned up with all the burrs carefully taken off they were ready for loading.

I stand all the casings up in the jig with the bell end up for loading.

I am using a piece of 3/8 X 3/8 square flash paper that is run down into the casing with a 1/4-inch wood dowel ram rod. The paper does not have to be bunched up, just set it on top of the bell and send it to the bottom with the 1/4-inch ram rod.

Once all the casings have the paper run down I load a premeasured amount of fff black powder into the barrel. I then insert a 3/8 X 1/2 inch section of backer rod from Lowe's and ram it down snug. I have a piece of brass tubing glued on to the ram rod to measure the amount of pressure I am putting on each casing resulting in all 48 shells having the same amount of compression in the powder.

When the shell casing is lifted out of the jig the flash paper holds the powder in and I insert the shell into the carronade and then push in the ram rod and extract the case.

The result is a consistantly loaded carronade and after firing 14 preloaded shots I found that I was able to get a reasonable report and a nice cloud of smoke with no unburned powder on the picnic table. The key is in the very small piece of flash paper. Larger pieces (1X1--3/4 X 3/4--1/2 X 1/2) result in a woof rather than a crack and a fair bit of unburned powder remains on the test bench. (The picnic table outside the shop)

I will make a video once I get the guns mounted on the ship so the very nice cloud of smoke can be seen. Stay tuned. RG

I discovered something about swaging the brass tubing. When forming the bell end I was a little too agressive in running the tube down over the pliers and several bells cracked during the operation. Use plenty of oil and allow the brass to get a bit hot and it forms the bell very nicely but after a while the pliers also gets hot--hence the burn on the thumb.

Brooks: The shell casings are such that double loads would show up immediately so they will not be a problem. Yes, I wear safety glasses. Regarding the sleeves. When I was in apprentiship for tool maker back in the late 60s the training then was to BUTTON your sleeves as I have mine. Short sleeves will allow you to get burned arms by hot metal coming off a drill, lathe, mill, and other machine tools. Rolled up sleeves will get you into trouble faster than you can say "Hey--watch this!" I once touched a turning 3 jaw chuck on a lathe and a ring I was wearing caught in one of the jaw slots. I never wore any kind of ring since and the mark on my finger is a reminder what happens when fools try to slow down a turning lathe chuck while wearing a ring. I once let a long piece of metal get away from me in a drill press and it caught the bit and the end hit me in the side. That scar is another reminder to clamp pieces that are going to hurt you. Wanna compare scars?

Binnacle for Surprise

G'day shipmates: I finally managed to finish the binnacle for Surprise. I found some close grained walnut in the barn that I had cut down years ago, and I sawed and planned it to the required sizes and finished this very interesting detail--FINALLY!

I made mine from plans sent me by Dan L. and it is very similar to the one he has on his ship, with slight variations such as a little less quality in the construction but from a galloping horse it looks good and I am pleased.

Many thanks to Jerry and Dan for the history lessons as well as guidence on the construction. RG

Camera mounting and control

Shipmates: With a lot of help from Dan L. I have managed to rig the camera pan/tilt mechanism as well as rig the Futaba radio and receiver to the Surprise to get some video of the ship underway as well as the firing carronades from on board.

The SPT-200 pan/tilt mechanism is from Servo City. The operation of the system is through a rotating knob on the Futaba radio transmitter that will tell us approximately the direction the camera is facing. The tilt is a little more complicated because we won't know precisely where it is pointing once the ship gets further away. It has been suggested we get one of those little transmitters that would go back to a monitor on shore that would tell us where the camera is pointed but the transmission distance is very limited plus I have the ship down in the water now to the gunwales with gold and silver. Another thought that may be workable will be a servo switch on the camera to start and stop but that is for another day.

I also have the new operational carronades mounted on the port side. A total of 16 working guns are soon to be operational. Two on the forecastle, 5 on the quarter deck, and the rest on the main gun deck in two batteries.

The carronades were built for me by Dan L. and they fit the Surprise perfectly. Test firing has proven the design to be absolutely flawless including the firing mechanism. The larger diameter barrels will make a whole lot more smoke and that is the effect we have been trying for.

When the weather cooperates we will go to the lake and get some videos and photos to post.

Paratrooper, just wondering why you put the 3 amp diodes in the power line going to the receiver?
John R.

John

I am running the Futaba receiver off of the 6 VDC battery in the hull and it will charge to more than 7 VDC when fully charged. The Futaba receiver would fry into a lump so I put the diodes in to make sure it does not receive more than it can handle. I am running the two pan/tilt servos off the same 6 VDC battery which is more power to keep from stuttering when I rotate the camera around. I did not have enough channels left on my Spectrum DX7 to operate the new camera since I rigged the working guns on the ship and the are running off the Spectrum.

Paratrooper, thanks for the reply, I thought that might be why, what is it a diode will drop the volts by .7 volt, I can't remember to many years since school. I have run my Futaba and all my receivers on 6 volt packs ( charged to 7.4 volts ) for many years with no problems.
John R.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paratrooper

John

I am running the Futaba receiver off of the 6 VDC battery in the hull and it will charge to more than 7 VDC when fully charged. The Futaba receiver would fry into a lump so I put the diodes in to make sure it does not receive more than it can handle. I am running the two pan/tilt servos off the same 6 VDC battery which is more power to keep from stuttering when I rotate the camera around. I did not have enough channels left on my Spectrum DX7 to operate the new camera since I rigged the working guns on the ship and the are running off the Spectrum.

Carronade Slides under operational guns on Surprise

G'day shipmates: I wondered if any of the carronade slides that came with my SC&H kit would work under the newly mounted operational carronades. Yah they do.

This really improves the appearance of the guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle deck.

Ghost: It has been too cold to go to the lake. The arthritis in my hands do not take cold well. I am going to have to wait until it is at least 40 F or so. There will be video soon though as rigging is well underway.

Dan: Yah, I knew what you meant. No worries mate, she'll be right!

Images

Deletion of Posts

Some of you are receiving notes of removal of your posts from this thread.
Since it's "stickied", I can edit the content.
I will attempt to keep the thread from getting hard to search and from getting too many posts with minimal helpful content by deleting posts with "chat" vs technically useful content.
Hope this helps the thread to be very focused on Design Details for Operating Systems and more useful.
Thanks,
DanL

DanL, while I respect your desire to keep chitchat out of this thread, I object to your removing posts, such as mine, that discuss shop safety. When I, or anyone, sees operations that we judge to be unsafe, it is just common sense to point them out. Many neophytes, I trust, will be reading this posting though the years, and it would be a disservice to the hobby to let them think that unsafe practices are "no problem".

Hammock crane

I decided to try to replicate the hammock crane on the Surprise.

I was only able to locate a picture in the book "The Frigate Surprise" that was written by the artist who did the paintings for O'Brian's novels, but it was sufficient for me to get an idea of what they might have looked like. If someone has more compelling evidence I can change what I have installed to a more accurate rendering.

The crane is made of 3/32 inch brass rod flattened and drilled at the ends to receive the 1/16 inch brass hand rail and the top portion of the hammock crane.

The mesh is the fiber grey screen door material from Lowe's and the hammock covering is a piece of sail cloth over a section of blue styrofoam to make sure I am not adding unwanted weight to the ship.